Andrew Mark Cuomo (born December 6, 1957, in Queens, New York) is the 56th and current Governor of New York. A Democrat, he was first elected on November 2, 2010, and was re-elected to a second four-year term in 2014.[1] He is also rumored to be a potential candidate for president in 2016.[2] Andrew Cuomo won the general election on November 4, 2014.

An April 2013 list of the 100 most powerful players in Albany by the newspaper City and State ranked Cuomo as number one.[3]

Prior to ascending to the state's top post, Cuomo spent time at the federal level, serving as assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development from 1993-1997 and as secretary of HUD from 1997-2001 under President Bill Clinton. Returning to the state level, Cuomo served as New York Attorney General from 2006-2010.[4]

As governor, Cuomo has focused on LGBT rights, including the legalization of gay marriage, women's rights and economic stimulus. Known for his bipartisan approach to achieving his goals, Cuomo's first two years saw him popular statewide and across party lines. That appeal dipped in early 2013 following Cuomo's work to pass the nation's strictest gun-control laws. Following the law's passage, polling showed more of a traditional split between update and downstate as well as Republican and Democrat.[5][6]

Biography

Cuomo was born on December 6, 1957, in Queens, N.Y. He graduated from Archbishop Molloy High School, Fordham University and Albany Law School. Cuomo was named a top aide to his father's inaugural campaign for governor shortly after receiving his law degree. He then joined the governor's staff as one of his father's top policy advisers, a position he filled on and off throughout the course of Mario Cuomo's 12-year governorship.

Cuomo worked two years as a New York assistant district attorney and briefly for the law firm of Blutrich, Falcone & Miller. He became active in the issues of homelessness and state housing policy during the 1980s and 1990s. This in turn spurred him on to create Housing Enterprise for the Less Privileged (HELP), a non-profit organization whose goal is to provide housing and the supportive services necessary for the homeless and people in need to become and remain self reliant. He was appointed Chairman of the New York City Homeless Commission during the administration of New York City Mayor David Dinkins, from 1990 to 1993.

Education

Graduated from Archbishop Molloy High School (1975)

B.A., Fordham University (1979)

J.D., Albany Law School (1982)

Political career

Governor of New York (2011-Present)

Job creation ranking

In a June 2013 analysis by The Business Journals looking at 45 of the country's 50 governors by their job creation record, Cuomo was ranked number 18. The five governors omitted from the analysis all assumed office in 2013. The ranking was based on a comparison of the annual private sector growth rate in all 50 states using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.[8][9]

Tax extensions

Promoting his 2013-14 budget, Cuomo and his 2014 re-election campaign launched television ads in late January 2013.[10] E.J. McMahon of the pro-market Empire State Center for New York Policy argued that Cuomo's claim in the ads that his budget did not impose any new taxes was technically true but disingenuous because the governor did call for extending two "temporary" taxes first imposed in 2009. Cuomo proposed extending the 2 percent assessment on electric, water and gas utility bills for five years beyond its scheduled March 13, 2014, expiration date. Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R) and the Senate Republicans opposed the utility tax extension and held a February 5 press conference on the topic with representatives from the Business Council of New York State, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, the Manufacturers Association of Central New York (MACNY), the New York Farm Bureau and AARP.[11] Cuomo also proposed extending a tax on households earning more than $10 million annually. Already statutorily limited to receiving only half of their tax deductions for their charitable giving, high-end taxpayers would see the temporary law limiting them to receiving only a quarter of their charitable giving deductions extended for three more years. The utility assessment tax brings in $509 million annually, and the charitable giving deduction limit brings in $140 million.[12]

Pension "smoothing"

As part of his 2013-14 budget, introduced on January 22, 2013, Cuomo proposed the Stable Rate Pension Contribution Option as a way for local governments to deal with rising pension plan costs.[13] Local governments which signed on for this plan would be able to reduce their present pension payments by as much as 43 percent and would then lock in that rate for 25 years. The savings now would be made up from the later payments, which would be made at the same level even though the fiscal situation will have improved. E.J. McMahon of the pro-market Empire State Center for New York Policy opposed Cuomo's plan, contending that "even under ideal economic and financial market conditions, it's likely to be a losing bet for employers — saving them less in the short-term than it would cost them in the long run."[14] Before the plan could become operational, New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, the lone trustee of New York's pension plan, would need to approve the option, but on February 5, he stated that he had concerns with the proposal.[15] The New York State Teachers' Retirement System, which is separate from the main pension plan and would need to approve the plan because of its effect on school districts, hired Cheiron to conduct an independent review of Cuomo's plan.[16]

Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")

In December 2012, Cuomo declined to enter New York into the federal health-exchange system established under the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as "Obamacare," in favor of setting up a state-based system.[17] New York is one of eighteen states—including Colorado, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Mexico and Washington—that decided to create and run individual health-exchange systems by the December 14 deadline. The exchange is an online marketplace for citizens to purchase health insurance.[18][19]

Appointments office export

In October 2012, Cuomo announced his decision to move the New York state "appointments office" outside the executive branch, including nine people and the office's original budget of $700,000. His decision addressed what he considered to be a trend of deterioration in the recruitment standards of state agency and board positions, which he attributed to statutory constraints on salary raises for appointees and a counterproductive tradition of nepotistic-style hiring by internal recommendation: “In the old days, you’d wait for some county [political party] chair or some elected official to say, can you hire A, B, C or D," said Cuomo, elaborating on his aim to reverse the unsatisfactory reputation of the appointments office by introducing it to private sector meritocracy. The former executive chamber office of appointments, renamed the “Center for Recruitment and Public Service,” was absorbed into the Office of General Services and managed by an appointments secretary. Cuomo appointed retired judge Leslie Leach, an aide from his years as attorney general, to the position prior to his announcement.[20] The Center for Recruitment and Public Service will deal primarily with appointed commissioners, state board members and some "exempt" managerial positions, but not civil service posts.

Gun control

Following the December 14, 2012, school shooting in Newton, Connecticut, Gov. Cuomo sought to make gun control a major issue in 2013. To that end, one of the first things the Legislature did in its 2013 session was to pass a tougher assault weapons ban that included restrictions on ammunition and the sale of guns, as well as provisions to keep guns from the mentally ill who make threats. New York was the first state to pass new laws after the tragedy.[21]

National Popular Vote Compact

Cuomo signed legislation that added New York to the list of states that have joined the National Popular Vote compact.
The bill has been enacted by 11 states and jurisdictions; California, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. This compact declares that its member states will award their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote in all 50 states. New York is often overlooked by presidential candidates for being reliably blue. Having candidates focus on the entire population of the United States, and not just swing states, will help New Yorkers feel more involved in the elections.[22]

This will not take effect until enough other states have joined the compact so that the determined states will possess a majority of the Electoral College’s 538 votes. New York provides 39 of the needed 270 votes. The compact currently contains 165 electoral votes.[22]

Controversies

State ethics commission

On July 2, 2013, in response to an increase in state scandals, Cuomo set up the "Commission to Investigate Public Corruption," a state ethics commission to identify corruption in state politics. The investigators on the commission were to search for violations of campaign finance laws. The "Commission to Investigate Public Corruption" is also referred to as the "Moreland Commission."

After two months, the commission issued a subpoena to Buying Time, a media-buying firm, which had contracted millions of dollars’ worth of advertisements for the New York State Democratic Party. Andrew Cuomo was a client of this firm which bought airtime for him during his 2010 campaign for governor.[23]

After Cuomo's senior aide, Lawrence Schwartz, heard of the subpoena, he called William Fitzpatrick, one of the commission's three co-chairs, and told him to "pull it back." The subpoena was withdrawn and the panel's chief investigator e-mailed the other co-chairs to explain the situation stating "they apparently produced ads for the governor."[23]

An investigation by the The New York Times stated that the "governor’s office deeply compromised the panel’s work, objecting whenever the commission focused on groups with ties to Mr. Cuomo or on issues that might reflect poorly on him." The governor's office responded with a thirteen page document which stated that "while he allowed the commission the independence to investigate whatever it wanted, it would have been a conflict for a panel he created to investigate his own administration."[23]

While Cuomo originally stated the investigation would be independent, he maintains that he had the right to monitor and direct the work of the commission. Cuomo had intended the commission run for 18 months, but disbanded the panel halfway through the term. Federal investigators are looking into the role of Cuomo in the panel's shutdown as well as looking into the unfinished investigative work.[23]

After the commission's release of a preliminary findings report, Cuomo and the New York State Legislature agreed to a collection of ethics reforms. The Times investigation claimed that "Cuomo personally suggested a way to squeeze members of the Legislature into enacting ethics-reform measures: by issuing subpoenas to the law firms where many legislators earn sizable incomes for part-time work." The reforms that resulted were much lighter than the commission's recommendations. Cuomo called the commission a success.[23][24][25][26]Key players

United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, threatens an investigation of potential obstruction of justice in his office's review of the commission. In a letter to the governor's office, Bharara cited reports that several commissioners were contacted about their work or asked to speak publicly about Cuomo's handling of the commission.[27]

The New York Times reaches out to the Cuomo administration for comment on their accusations related to the Commission to Investigate Public Corruption. The governor's office responds with a thirteen page document.

April 10, 2014

Bharara, as a guest on WNYC radio, assails Cuomo for shutting down the commission. Bharara says his investigators will be looking into the commission.

April 9, 2014

Bharara, along with the head of the public corruption unit, meets with commission co-chairs Fitzpatrick and Williams.

March 29, 2014

Cuomo announces a deal with lawmakers that included small improvements in state ethics laws.

A reporter asks Cuomo about the Moreland Commission. Cuomo said the commission had achieved its goal and would be shut down.

A subpoena is again issued to Buying Time. This time it is allowed through.

September 30, 2013

The co-chairs meet with top Assembly and Senate aides. In line with Cuomo's advice, the commission proposes "public financing of campaigns, beefing up corruption laws, and expanding disclosure of lawmakers’ outside incomes." The proposals are not received well.

Perry asks the co-chairs to speak with Calcaterra to prevent her from going against their instructions.

September 20, 2013

Schwartz finds out about the subpoena of Buying Time and calls Fitzpatrick, who agrees to rescind the subpoena.

Calcaterra asks Perry for a list of subpoenas that have been served and directs that no others be released.

Perry e-mails the co-chairs to let them know of the new resistance. Williams asks why the Buying Time subpoena was rescinded to which Perry responds "They apparently have produced ads for the governor."

September 19, 2013

The subpoena to the media-buying firm, Buying Time, is approved.

September 18, 2013

Cuomo asks to meet with the commission. He suggests that rather than subpoenaing lawmakers the commission should subpoena their law firms to sidestep any constitutional objections.

September 17, 2013

Evening: At the commission's first public hearing, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara, encourages the commission to be tough and independent in their search for offenses. Bahara says to let no one be immune, “whether in the legislative or in the executive branch.”

Afternoon: Fitzpatrick asks for a meeting between the co-chairs and Governor Cuomo. They first met with Schwartz where Fitzpatrick relayed the resistance they have met from both Calcaterra and Schwartz and asked for it to stop. Schwartz tells the commissioners that the Cuomo administration needed to be involved in order to prevent subpoenas that were ill advised or potentially embarrassing to Cuomo from being served.

August 29, 2013

The commission meets with Calcaterra. When Perry is asked for an update on the commission's work, she shares the resistance they have faced in issuing subpoenas and deciding what organizations to investigate.

At a different event, Cuomo tells reporters that the commission has "total ability to look at whatever they want to look at.” He also said his own political activities would be fair game.

August 28, 2013

Perry forwards an email chain about the resistance from the Cuomo administration to commission co-chair Kathleen Rice, the panel’s co-chairwoman, who then sent it to the other two co-chairs, William Fitzpatrick and Milton Williams.

August 19, 2013

The commission decides to issue a subpoena to the Real Estate Board of New York. Several members of the Real Estate Board, a trade group, had been generous supporters of Cuomo. Executive director, Regina Calcaterra e-mailed Dayna Perry, chief of investigations, asking her not to issue the subpoena. The commission back Perry and intended on issuing the subpoena. Secretary to the Governor, Lawrence Schwartz, called the commission to tell them there would be no subpoena to the Real Estate Board. The Real Estate Board agreed to provide information voluntarily.

July 2, 2013:

In response to an increase in state scandals, Cuomo sets up the Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption, a state ethics commission to identify corruption in state politics. The investigators on the commission were to search for violations of campaign finance laws.

Attorney General of New York (2007-2010)

Police surveillance by the Governor's Office

On July 23, 2007, Cuomo's office admonished the Spitzer administration for ordering the State Police to keep special records of Senate majority leader Joseph L. Bruno's whereabouts when he traveled with police escorts in New York City.[28] At the direction of top officials of the Spitzer administration, the New York State Police created documents meant to cause political damage to Bruno.[29] The governor's staff had stated they were responding to a Freedom of Information request from the Albany Times-Union in late June.[28]

A scathing 57-page report issued by the Attorney General's office concluded that Spitzer aides did not simply produce records, as the state Freedom of Information Law requires, but were instead engaged in planning and producing media coverage concerning Senator Bruno's travel on state aircraft before any FOIL request was made.[30][31] The investigation looked into both Bruno's travel and the senate leader's allegation that Spitzer used State Police to spy on him.[32] It also suggests that the governor's staff lied when they tried to explain what they had done and forced the State Police to go far beyond their normal procedures in documenting Mr. Bruno's whereabouts.[33]

The report cleared Bruno of any misuse of the state's air fleet, which had been alleged.[34][35][36][29]
The report criticized Spitzer's office for using State Police resources to gather information about Bruno's travel and releasing the information to the media.[37]

New York Republican State Committee Chairman Joseph Mondello claimed that "Today's explosive report by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo validates the frightening charges that Governor Spitzer's administration abused the New York State Police and New York's F.O.I.L. laws in an attempt to set up Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and that "This disturbing abuse of power by a Governor is unprecedented."[28]
The findings of the report were endorsed by Spitzer's own Inspector General, Kristine Hamann.[28][35][36][32]

Spitzer responded at a July 23 press conference that "As governor, I am accountable for what goes on in the executive branch and I accept responsibility for the actions of my office and that his administration had "grossly mishandled" the situation.[28][36]
The Governor issued an apology to Senator Bruno and stated that "I apologized to Senator Bruno and I did so personally this morning […] In addition, I apologized to the men and women of the State Police, and to acting Superintendent Preston Felton personally for allowing this esteemed institution to be drawn into this matter."[28] Felton said he didn't realize he was part of a political scheme, and claimed in a written statement that "I have never, in my 26-year career with the state police, knowingly undertaken any such action and never would […] To the extent that circumstances previously not known to me have now given rise to that appearance, I am particularly saddened."[32]

Spitzer subsequently announced that he would indefinitely suspend his communications director, Darren Dopp, and reassign another top official.[38] When questioned about his promise to bring a new dawn of ethical responsibility to state politics, Spitzer responded by saying "I will not tolerate this behavior […] ethics and accountability must and will remain rigorous in my administration," and that "I have always stated that I want ethics and integrity to be the hallmarks of my administration. That is why I requested that the State Inspector General review the allegations with respect to my office, and that is why we have fully cooperated with both inquiries."[34] As of July 2007, Cuomo's office was considering recommending disciplinary action against the Governor's office.[39]

Student Loan Inquiry

In 2007, Cuomo was active in a high profile investigation into lending practices and anti-competitive relationships between student lenders and universities. Specifically, many universities steered student borrowers to a "preferred lender" which resulted in those borrowers incurring higher interest rates. This has led to changes in lending policy at many major American universities. Many universities have also rebated millions of dollars in fees back to affected borrowers.[40][41]

The Safety of Facebook

As attorney general, Cuomo spoke out against Facebook, believing it was not safe enough for minors.[42]

"My office is concerned that Facebook's promise of a safe web site is not consistent with its performance in policing its site and responding to complaints," Cuomo stated on September 25, 2007. "Parents have a right to know what their children will encounter on a web site that is aggressively marketed as safe."

Cuomo cited an investigation by the Office of Attorney General which discovered "deficiencies that stand in contrast to the reassuring statements made on the web site and by company officials." This investigation found numerous occurrences of other users approaching undercover Facebook accounts for adult reasons, as well as lewd or pornographic Facebook groups that users under 18 were allowed to join.

ACORN endorsement

In the midst of his 2006 bid for New York Attorney General, Cuomo received the endorsement of ACORN. Former Executive Director Bertha Lewis praised him for "his outstanding record of results fighting for fair housing and fighting against predatory lenders."[43] In response to this commendation, Cuomo issued a statement that stated that he was "honored" and that he appreciated the strong words of recommendation from his 'good friend' Bertha Lewis, who, he said, was an 'inspiration' for him.

Cuomo was one of six state attorneys general, all of whom belonged to the Democratic Party, who received the highest rating, a letter grade of A+, from the June 2008 Survey and Scorecard report published by the liberal political organization, ACORN. The report was published in an effort to shine the spotlight on state attorneys general "leading the fight to protect homeowners from joining the flood of Americans losing their homes to foreclosure," according to the group.[44]

Mortgage crisis

As part of a probe into the mortgage industry, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo served subpoenas to both Freddie Mac (FRE) and Fannie Mae (FNM) on November 7, 2007, requesting the two companies retain an independent examiner to review mortgages and appraisals. He then promptly sued First American Corporation (FAF) and its eAppraiseIT unit for allegedly colluding with savings bank holding company, Washington Mutual; stock for the company sharply declined. CNBC's Jim Cramer labeled Cuomo a "communist" who "who wants to shut down the mortgage market."[45] About a month later, Washington Mutual Bank reorganized its home-loan division and closed 160 of its 336 home-loan offices, hemorrhaging nearly twenty-two percent of its staff. Nine months after that, Washington Mutual, Inc. and its subsidiaries filed for bankruptcy.

Cuomo faced criticism for a series of lawsuits and investigations surrounding a Florida based Savings and Loan Association institution in which he was accused of illegal, hostile take-over maneuvers among other things. This problem tapered off after Attorney General Janet Reno declined to initiate a full investigation. A spectrum of excuses and accusations were offered to explain this situation.

In tandem with the Florida S&L situation was criticism coming from Catherine Fitts, formerly HUD Assistant Secretary and FHA Administrator under Jack Kemp during the first Bush administration and HUD independent contractor under Henry Cisneros and Andrew Cuomo. Fitts essentially accused him of fraud and linked his name to HUD vendors who also provided him with lucrative benefits of various types.[46]

"Shuck and jive"

In the early stages of the 2008 Democratic presidential primary campaign, shortly after Hillary Clinton won the New Hampshire contest, Cuomo, a supporter of Clinton's, made a comment in reference to then-Senator Barack Obama that some perceived to be racially insensitive, if unintentionally so. The New York Attorney General, speaking on radio station WGDJ - Talk 1300 based in Albany, analyzed the primary race, saying, "It's not a TV crazed race. Frankly you can't buy your way into it. You can't shuck and jive at a press conference. All those moves you can make with the press don't work when you're in someone's living room."[47] Though Cuomo insisted after the program that the comment "was never about Obama in the first place," but rather the primary campaign in general, critics still believed the words were ill-spoken, if not downright inappropriate. The phrase 'shuck and jive' "refers to mischievous blacks behaving innocently in the presence of an authority figure, so as to lie and get out of trouble."[47][48]

Usenet

On June 10, 2008, Cuomo announced that three major internet service providers (Verizon Communications, Time Warner Cable, and Sprint) would "shut down major sources of online child pornography" by no longer hosting many newsgroups associated with the worldwide distributed internet discussion system, Usenet. Time Warner Cable ceased offering Usenet altogether while Sprint no longer provides access to the alt.* hierarchy, and Verizon limiting its Usenet offerings to the Big 8 (comp.*, misc.*, news.*, rec.*, sci.*, soc.*, alt.*, and talk.* newsgroup hierarchies).[49] Internet critics argued that this was significant overreaching on the part of the New York Attorney General, noting that "Cuomo’s office found only 88 newsgroups containing child porn, and there are more than 18,000 in the alt.* hierarchy alone."[50] Barry Steinhardt, director of the ACLU's technology and liberty program, compared the action to "taking a sledgehammer to an ant."[51]

Dept. of Housing & Urban Development (1993-2000)

Cuomo was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1993 to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). At the end of Clinton's first term in office, Henry Cisneros resigned as Secretary of HUD following a three and a half year independent investigation that resulted in his indictment on eighteen counts of conspiracy, giving false statements and obstruction of justice. Cuomo succeeded Cisneros and remained in the position until the end of Clinton's administration in 2001. Twice during his tenure it was speculated that he would mount a campaign for the United States Senate, first in 1998 to challenge Senator Al D'Amato who was deemed too conservative by Congressional Democratic leadership and then in 2000 after the announcement by four-term Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan that he would be retiring; he ultimately deferred to First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in the run up to the Democratic primary election.

On The Issues Vote Match

On The Issues conducts a VoteMatch analysis of elected officials based on 20 issue areas. Rather than relying on incumbents to complete the quiz themselves, the VoteMatch analysis is conducted using voting records, statements to the media, debate transcripts or citations from books authored by or about the candidate. Based on the results of the quiz, Cuomo is a Moderate Liberal. Cuomo received a score of 63 percent on social issues and 32 percent on economic issues.[52]

On The Issues organization logo.

The table below contains the results of analysis compiled by staff at On The Issues.

Elections

2016

Presidency

Cuomo is considered a potential Democratic candidate for 2016.
When asked on November 22, 2013, whether he would consider a 2016 presidential bid, Cuomo stated, "Hillary Clinton is ‘apparently’ running for president of the United States, and I should also say Chris Christie is ‘apparently’ running for president of the United States. I – very apparently – am not." He would likely have to compete in the primary against Hillary Clinton, whose husband Cuomo served as a cabinet member to.[54] There have been 17 presidents who previously served as governors.[55]

Public opinion polls

A Siena Research Institute poll conducted in November 2013, showed Cuomo losing to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in a hypothetical 2016 head-to-head match-up.[54]

Working Families Party

The labor-backed third party, the Working Families Party, voted to back Cuomo in the 2014 election.
The party agreed with Cuomo's public support of a Democratic takeover of the New York State Senate along with a raise of the minimum wage. A vocal part of the party wished to back Associate Professor of Law Zephyr Teachout. Those members were critical of Cuomo's fiscal policies, including a cut in corporate taxes. Cuomo received 59% of the vote in the nominating convention, overcoming Teachout's 41%.[56]

Independence Party

When asked about a nomination by the Independence Party, Cuomo told the media that he would decide "down the road." However, Cuomo had already accepted the nomination, proven by notarized documents dated the previous day. This discrepancy led Republican candidate Rob Astorino to call Cuomo a liar. Cuomo's spokesperson Peter Kaufmann said the acceptance paperwork was completed in advance because Cuomo would be unavailable later.

Issues

Union endorsements in Democratic primary

Public-employee unions in New York made a statement prior to the September 9 primary by steering clear of Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D). The Public Employees Federation (PEF), the second-largest union for public employees in New York, endorsed primary challenger Zephyr Teachout and her running mate, Tim Wu, prior to the primary.[58] The New York State AFL-CIO and New York State United Teachers withheld their endorsements for the 2014 primary.[59] Cuomo received the endorsement of PEF and the AFL-CIO for his 2010 campaign. The governor responded to the endorsement news by stating that he had "legitimate differences" with public-employee unions over tough negotiations in the past four years.[58]

Efforts to create additional ballot lines

Cuomo and Rob Astorino (R) spent time this summer seeking petitions for additional ballot lines in the November 4 general election. Astorino joined with three other Republican candidates for statewide office to create a Stop Common Core ballot line for the general election. Supporters of Stop Common Core, who oppose implementation of Common Core education standards in New York, filed 62,000 signatures with the New York Board of Elections, far surpassing the threshold of 15,000 signatures after only two months of work. State law requires a minimum of 15,000 valid signatures, with at least 100 signatures from a majority of the state's 27 congressional districts. The addition of the Stop Common Core line allows Astorino and fellow statewide candidates to run as Republican Party, Conservative Party and Stop Common Core candidates.[60]

Lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Kathy Hochul (D) and supporters of Gov. Cuomo gathered signatures for a Women's Equality Party line, thereby increasing the Democratic ticket's haul of ballot lines to four. The party's state executive candidates are already running on the Democratic Party, Working Families Party and Independence Party lines. The deadline for delivering at least 15,000 signatures from New York voters
was
August 19, and both efforts were successful.[60]

Residency challenge by Governor Cuomo

The New York Supreme Court began hearings on August 7, 2014 to determine if primary challenger Zephyr Teachout met the five-year residency requirement for ballot placement. A challenge was brought by Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), who is seeking re-election in November. Martin E. Connor, representing Cuomo's campaign, claimed that Teachout had not spent the previous years living continuously in New York. Teachout owns a cabin in Vermont, where she spent time in previous summers. Connor also noted that Teachout did not have a state driver's license or change her address to a New York residence until recently.[61]

Teachout supplied evidence to the court in support of her residency, including an account of her move from Vermont to North Carolina to New York in June 2009. She also provided her 2009 tax return with New York address, a Fordham Law School directory and bank statements documenting purchases at New York businesses. Teachout believed that Cuomo's efforts were intended to avoid embarrassment from losing votes to a more liberal candidate.[61] On August 11, Edgar G. Walker ruled against Cuomo's residency challenge, keeping Teachout on the primary ballot. Cuomo appealed Walker's decision to a state Supreme Court panel, which upheld the decision to keep Teachout on the ballot on August 20, 2014.[62][63]

Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Other match-ups

Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

2006

Though it was expected that he would make a second attempt to run for Governor of New York, he decided against it after State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer entered the gubernatorial race in late-2004. Cuomo later declared his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for New York Attorney General, which he received in late-May 2006 after obtaining sixty-percent of party delegate votes. In spite of this majority vote of confidence, "each of the other four Democrats whose names were placed in nomination vowed to get on the Sept. 12 primary ballot by undertaking a statewide petitioning drive."[64] These candidates included former New York City public advocate Mark Green, former United States Attorney Denise O'Donnell, Charlie King, and Sean P. Maloney, a former aide to President Bill Clinton; King would drop out of the race just prior to the primary election and endorsed Cuomo. Cuomo easily won the Democratic primary contest, defeating his nearest opponent, Mark Green, by over twenty percent of the vote.[65] He went on to effortlessly best former Westchester District Attorney Jeanine Pirro in the general election, 58-40%, the closest statewide race that election cycle.[66]

2002

In 2002, Cuomo ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination in the state's gubernatorial election. Despite rival Carl McCall being a favorite of the Democratic establishment, Cuomo's initial momentum heading into the campaign and his ability to lead both in terms of fundraising efforts as well as in the polls his prospects looked optimistic. The turning point in the campaign, however, came on April 17, 2002, when Cuomo criticized Republican incumbent George Pataki's conduct in the wake of the September 11 attacks. He remarked, "Pataki stood behind the leader. He held the leader's coat. He was a great assistant to the leader. But he was not a leader. Cream rises to the top, and Rudy Giuliani rose to the top."[67] His remarks were quickly derided and many Democratic officials began to widely distance themselves from his campaign. Cuomo withdrew his candidacy from consideration on the eve of the state convention, remarking that he stood little chance of garnering enough support to overtake the favored candidate, H. Carl McCall.[68] The late nature of his departure from the campaign resulted in his name being left on the ballot in both the primary and general election contests; he received only fourteen percent of the vote in the primary and sixteen-thousand votes out of a total of 2.2 million cast in the general election. McCall, who had received the nomination, was resoundly defeated by incumbent George Pataki.

Campaign donors

Comprehensive donor information for Cuomo is available dating back to 2002. Based on available campaign finance records, Cuomo raised a total of $78,672,226 during that time period. This information was last updated on May 21, 2013.[69]

Andrew Cuomo's Campaign Contribution History

Year

Office

Result

Contributions

2012

Governor of New York

$21,387,022

2010

Governor of New York

$26,362,964

2008

New York Attorney General

$6,547,422

2006

New York Attorney General

$11,532,831

2004

New York Attorney General

$199,175

2002

Governor of New York

$12,642,812

Grand Total Raised

$78,672,226

2006-2010

Ballotpedia collects information on campaign donors for each year in which a candidate or incumbent is running for election. The following table offers a breakdown of Andrew Cuomo's donors each year.[70] Click [show] for more information.

Andrew Cuomo's Campaign Contributions

2006Attorney General of New York

2010Governor of New York

Total Raised

$11,532,831

$26,362,964

Total Raised by General Election Opponent

$5,100,109 (Republican)

$9,784,750 (Republican)

Top 5 contributors

RFR Holding LLC

$100,000

Cablevision Systems Corporation

$125,600

New York State United Teachers

$50,100

Competitive Power Ventures Inc

$76,300

Leo J Hindery, Jr.

$50,000

Access Industries Holdings LLC

$75,600

Atticus Capital

$50,100

Alexander Rovt

$63,000

53 West 46 LLC

$50,100

Nixon Peabody LLP

$53,588

Individuals

$7,481,835

$14,807,423

Institutions

$3,806,079

$10,888,533

In-state donations

$9,177,296

$21,124,492

Out-of-state donations

$2,206,618

$4,874,742

Personal

Cuomo is a 2000 recipient of the Freedom & Justice Award from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He was married to Kerry Kennedy, the seventh child of Robert F. Kennedy, for 13 years. They have three children together, Cara, Michaela and Mariah, and were divorced in 2003. He is now in a relationship with television cooking show host Sandra Lee.

Recent news

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↑The questions in the quiz are broken down into two sections -- social and economic. In social questions, liberals and libertarians agree in choosing the less-government answers, while conservatives and populists agree in choosing the more-restrictive answers. For the economic questions, conservatives and libertarians agree in choosing the less-government answers, while liberals and populists agree in choosing the more-restrictive answers.